A comprehensive plan developed by TMACOG that addresses the Portage River watershed has been approved by TMACOG’s Portage River Basin Council (PRBC) and jointly endorsed by the Ohio EPA and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. The TMACOG Environmental Council will consider the plan at its May 24 meeting. The next step toward formal adoption of the watershed plan is the TMACOG Board of Trustees which will review recommendations at its regular June 20 meeting.

A Watershed Plan is a document that describes the watershed (type of stream, number and type of fish and other animals among other features), categorizes problems (such as excessive amounts of nutrients in the waterway), and recommends projects to restore water quality. An endorsed plan is an asset when people in the region want to undertake a project. For example, if a county soil and water conservation department applied for a grant to improve habitat to keep phosphorus out of sediment, an endorsed plan that identified nutrient loading as a problem would add points to that application. Learn more about the PRBC and the watershed plan here.

The Swan Creek watershed covers parts of Hancock, Ottawa, Sandusky, Seneca, and Wood counties. TMACOG established the Portage River Basin Council in 1994 to provide a forum for local governments to work together on watershed programs and issues. The current chair of the PRBC is Gordon Bowman, council president, Village of Pemberville in Wood County. The vice chair is Jim Sass, commissioner of Ottawa County.